Spreading machine



Nov. 1, 1932. v. F. BAUMGARDNER SPREADING MACHINE Filed May 4, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l 5mm wit oz rfzaum qczv'azneo Patented Nov. 1, 1932 UNITED STATES VERSAL FORREST BAUMGARDNER; OF CELINA, OHIO SPREADING MACHINE Application filed May'4, 1931. Serial No. 534,969.

A rather well known type of machine for spreading crushed rock, gravel, cinders, etc. upon highways embodies a wheel-supported hopper elongated transversely of the direc- 4 tion of travel of the machine and adapted for connection with a motor truck, a discharge roller extending throughout the length of the hopper at the outlet of the latter, and a steel brush along said outlet having bristles which 19 are under lateral tension and control the discharge of material onto the roadway. The wheels are mounted on the ends of the discharge roller and hence are outwardly spaced from the area upon which the material is spread by the machine, this being undesirable when applying re-surfacing material to roads upon fresh tar or other binder, for one or both wheels must travel upon the tar or the like. Such location of the wheels is of further disadvantage, when the material must be spread close to a curb, for one wheel will then strike the curb and prevent spreading close to the latter unless the end of the machine having the interfering wheel, be chained up. Moreover, only one wheel drives the discharge roller and when this Wheel is traveling the relatively short distance at the inside of a curve, said discharge roller is not driven with 'suflicient speed to discharge the required amount of material. One object of my invention, therefore, is to fulfill these deficiencies.

A further draw-back with machines of the type mentioned, is due to lack of provision for making proper'brush adjustments, and lack of provision for stopping the discharge of material when the machine stops or is to be driven a distance Without spreading. It is often expedient to have the spread layer of material thicker in the center than at the edges, thicker at the edges than in the center, or thick at one edge and thin at the other, according to the condition of the roadway and 4. state or county specifications. Moreover, it is desirable to utilize the brush as a gate to stop the discharge of material when the machine stops or travels where no material is to be spread. Further objects of my invention therefore, are to provide novel means whereby these ends may be attained.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a spreader constructed in accordance with my invention- Fig. 2 is asectional view as indicated by the irregular line 2'2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation showing the brush so tensioned as to prevent discharge of material, Whereas said brush is positioned to allow such discharge inFig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic top plan view illustrating the driving means for the dis- 65 charge roller.

A preferred construction has been illustrated and will be rather specifically described, with the understanding however that within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous variations ma be made.

The body structure (Fig. 2) of the spreader is supported by a running gear G having two wheels W which may laterally swing with respect to said body structure when the machine and the truck to which it is coupled, are travelingaround curves. Features of running gear are not claimed in this application, but are presented in my co-pending application Serial No. 534,968, filed May 4, 1931. Moreover, the provision shown in said co-pending application for supporting the weight of the body structure upon the running gear, is preferably employed but not herein disclosed as it forms no part of the invention claimed herein.

The body structure B embodies a hopper 5 elongated transversely of the line of travel of the machine, said hopper having a forwardly declined bottom 6. and an outlet spout 7 at the lower end of said bottom and ex- ,tending throughout the length of the hopper. The wheels W, are disposed under the hopper bottom 6, are spaced rearwardly from the discharge spout 7, and are spaced inwardly from the ends of the hopper 5, and by so positioning the wheels, it is insured that they shall travel only upon the spread material, overcoming one of-the difliculties above mentioned. Then too, the wheels will not interfere with spreading close to a curb or the like, thereby overcoming another of said difiiculties.

A discharge roller 8 extends longitudinally of the discharge spout 7 and is rotatably supported by appropriate means 9 carried by the frame 10 of the body structure B. Disposed at the front side of this roller 8, are the resilient bristles 11 of a brush 12 which extends longitudinally in front of the spout 7, throughout the length of the latter, said bristles being formed preferably of steel and being suitably secured to a brush back 13 which may be of any desired construction. The bristles 11 remain under lateral tension and novel provision is made for varying such tension as desired to control the thickness of the layer of spread material and to stop discharge of material when required.

Short angle metal bars or arms 14 are shown secured to and projecting upwardly from the brush back 13, these bars or arms being pivoted on a rod 15 which passes through them and through short angle metal bars 16 secured upon the spout 7. The ends of this rod also pass through plates 17 secured to the frame 10 at the ends of the spout 7. Mounted on the front portion of the hopper 5, behind the arms 14, is a rock shaft 18, the bearings for said shaft being shown at 19. This rock shaft is provided with upstanding crank arms 20, and longitudinally adjustable links 21 connect said arms 20 with the arms 14:, the latter being preferably provided with vertically spaced openings 22, with any of which the links 21 may be engaged, thus varying the distance which any predetermined movement of the shaft 18, will rock the brush 12 about its pivotal mounting.

One end of the rock shaft 18 is provided with an upstanding operating arm 23 to which a nut 24 is pivoted, and a hand screw 25 having an operating crank 26 or wheel, is threaded through said nut. The rear end of screw 25 is swiveled in a head 27 and this head is pivoted at 28 to a hand lever 29. This lever is fulcrumed at 30 to a part of the frame structure 10 and normally occupies the position shown in Fig. 1.

The tension on the bristles 11 tends to rock the arms 14 rearwardly, thereby causing said arms 14 to rearwardly push the links 21, so that the operating arm 23 of the rock shaft 18 is normally urged rearwardly. The connections between this arm 23 and the lever 29 serve to hold the latter in the position shown in Fig. 1 and it remains in this position as lon as the machine is operating.

' When lever 29 is pulled downwardly as seen in Fig. 3, it effects turning of the rock shaft 18 and rocking of the brush 12 about its pivot 15, so as to place the brush bristles 11 under such a severe tension as to prevent the disesaare charge of material from the outlet spout 7 of the hopper 5.

By adjusting the various links 21 to different extents, the brush back 12 may be Obviously, the bristles under relatively littletension will allow more material to pass and those under greater tension will permit the passage of less material and hence, the desired results may be obtained. By' gradually increasing the tension of the bristles 1.1 from one end of the brush to the other, a layer may be spread gradually decreasing in thickness from one edge to the other. By gradually decreasing the tension of the bristles 11 from the ends toward the center of the brush, the layer of spread material will be thick at the center and thinned toward its edges, and by gradually increasing the tens on of the bristles from the ends toward the center of the brush, the spread layer will be thick at its edges and thin at its center. Hence, the material may be spread in accordance with any requirements, either specified by road engineers or the like, or requ red by the condition of the roadway.

To either thicken or thin the spread layer throughout its width. the crank or the like 26 is operated, effecting movement of the rock shaft 18 and the links 21 to rock the brush 12 and change the tens on of the bristles 11, as may be required.

Whenever the feeding of material is to be stopped, for instance when discontinuing operation of the machine, or when traveling where no material s to be spread. it is simply necessary to move the lever 29 to the position shown in Fig. 3, thereby so severely tensioning the brush bristles 11 that they will allow no material to pass. When lever 29 is in this posit on, pivot 28 is below dead center and consefiuently the parts will remain as seen in Fig. 3 until said lever is again swung upwardly. a V For driving the d scharge roller 8. the wheels W and operating connections between said wheels and the roller. are employed, and the construction is such that the more rapidly rotating wheel at the outside of the curve will always drive said roller when the machine 7's traveling along a curved path.

By means of sprocket Wheels 31 and 32 and chains 33, the wheels W drive short transverse shafts 34 which are mounted in bearings upon the running gear G, both of said Dearings being shown at 35 in Fig. 1. The inner ends of the shafts 3-1 are coupled by universal jo'nts 3G to two relatively long trans verse shafts 37 mounted in bearings 38 on 39. Two spring-pressed one-way clutches 40 are provided to establish driving connections 5 between the shafts 37 and the sprocket 39,

so that normally both shafts will drive said sprocket, but when rounding a curve, the

shaft driven by the more rapidly rotating outer wheel, will accomplish the driving. The sprocket 39 drives the sprocket chain 41 which is engaged with another sprocket '42 on a transverse shaft 43 which is mounted n 5 appropriate bearings 44 under the hopper 5. One end of shaft 43 is connected by sprockets 45 and 46,- and a chain 47, with the discharge roller. 8. Hence, regardless of which shaft 37 drives the main sprocketor other driving member 39, the roller 8 will be dr ven, and as said roller is always driven under the influence of the more rapidly rotating wheel of the machine, it is insured that ample material shall be spread along curves, whereas this is not true of machineswhich drive from only one wheel, 1f the dr ving wheel be atthe inner side of the curve.

It will be seen from the foregoing that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the objects of the invention, and while the details disclosed are preferred and are preferably followed, attention is again invited to the fact that within the scope of the invention as claimed, variations may be made, and in this connection, attention may be invited to the fact that although the bristles 11 are herein shown urged toward the roller 8, they might be urged toward some other part to control the discharge of material from the hopper, their operation being the same as long as they are properly tensioned, whether they be opposite a stationary part of a rotating part.

1. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, and adjusting means for relatively varying the tension of said bristles longitudinally of the brush to transversely .vary the thickness of the layer of spread material.

2. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, said brush having a longitudinal back to which said bristles are secured, and adjustable means spaced along said brush and connected with said back for twisting the latter to relatively vary the tension. of the bristles longitudinally of the brush.

3. In aspreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of. said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remainunder lateral tension, said brush having a longitudinal back to which said bristles are secured, means pivotally mounting said back on an axis extending longitudinally thereof, and means connected wit longitudinally spaced portions of said back and ofiset from the pivotal axis of the latter for rocking said portions to different" extents about said pivotal axis, thereby relativel varying the tension of the bristles longitudinally of the brush.

4. Ina spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension,

adjusting means for relatively varying the tension of said bristles longitudinally of the brush to transversely vary the thickness of the layer of spread material, and additional adjusting means for simultaneously changing the tension on all of said bristles to either thicken or thinthe layer of spread material through-out its width. 7

5. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, adjusting means for relatively varying the tension on said bristles longitudinally of the brush to transversely vary the thickness of the layer of spread material, and additional means for simultaneously placing said bristles under such severe tension as to prevent discharge of material when desired.

6. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, adjusting means for relatively varying the tension of said bristles longitudinally of the brush to transversely vary the thickness of the layer of spread material, additional adjusing means for simultaneously changing the tension on all of said bristles to either thicken or thin the layer of spread material, and means for simultaneously placing said bristles under such severe tension as to prevent discharge of material when desired.

7. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of matefial' from said hopper, said bristles being adapted "to remain under lateral tension, means for tensioning said bristles to control the thickness of the layer of spread material, and means for so severely tensioning said bristles as to prevent discharge of material when desired.

8. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, adjusting means for tensioning said bristles to control the thickness of the layer of spread material, and additional adjusting means connected'with the first named adjusting means for so moving the latter as to simultaneously place said bristles under a different degree of tension when required.

9. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, separate adjusting means spaced along said brush for relatively varying the tension of the brush bristles longitudinally of said brush, and additional adjusting means connected with said separate adjusting means for moving the latter to simultaneously impart a different degree of tension to said bristles when required. v

10. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, separate adjusting means spaced along said brush for varying the tension of the bristles longitudinally of said brush, additional adjusting means connected with said separate adjusting means for moving the latter to simultaneously impart a different degree of tension to the bristles when desired, and further adjusting means connected with said ad ditional adjusting means for moving all of the aforesaid adjusting means to so tensionv said bristles as to prevent discharge of material when required.

11. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of saidoutlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, said brush having a longitudinal back to which said bristles are secured, means pivotally mounting said brush back on an axis extending longitudinally thereof, a relatively stationary rock shaft parallel with said brush back and having longitudinally spaced crank arms, longitudinally adjustable links connect ing said crank arms with portions of said brush back offset from the pivotal axis of said back, said links being operable to twist said brush back to relatively vary the tension of the bristles longitudinally of the brush, and additional adjusting means for turning said rock shaft and holding it in adjusted position, whereby the tension on all of the bristles may i be simultaneously varied.

12. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, said brush having a longitudinal back to which said bristles are secured, means pivotally mounting said brush back on an axis extending longitudinally thereof, a relatively stationary rock shaft parallel with said brush back and having longitudinally spaced crank arms, longitudinally adjustable links connecting said crank arms with portions of said brush back oifset from the pivotal axis of said back, said links being operable to twist said brush back to relatively vary the tension of the bristles longitudinally of the brush, ad-

ditional adjusting means for turning said rock shaft and holding it in adjusted position to vary the tension on all bristles simultaneously, and further adjusting means connected with said additional adjusting means for moving the latter, the rock shaft and the links to so severely tension the brush bristles as to prevent discharge of material.

13. In a spreading machine, a hopper having an elongated outlet, a brush extending longitudinally of said outlet and having resilient bristles which control the discharge of material from said hopper, said bristles being adapted to remain under lateral tension, said brush having a longitudinal back to which said bristles are secured, meanspivotally mounting said brush back on' an axis extending longitudinally thereof, a relatively stationary rock shaft parallel with said brush back and having longitudinally spaced crank arms, longitudinally adjustable links connecting said crank arms with portions of said brush back ofiset from the pivotal axis of said back, said links being operable to twist said brush back to relatively vary the tension of the bristles longitudinally of the brush, an operating arm on said rock shaft, a nut pivoted to said operating arm, a handscrewthreadcd through said nut, a head in which one end of said screw is swivel ed, and a hand lever pivoted to said head and fulcrumed to a fixed part of the machine; said screw, nut and op-- erating arm serving to turn said rock shaft to simultaneously vary the tension on all of the brush bristles, said lever, head, screw, nut and operating arm being operable to quickly turn said rock shaft to place, extreme tension on said bristles to prevent discharge of mat-crial.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

VERSAL FORREST BAUMGARDNER. 

